The New Orleans Hornets have fired coach Byron Scott and named general manager Jeff Bower as his replacement.  The Hornets also announced that former New Orleans head coach Tim Floyd, who Scott replaced, will be one of Bower’s top assistants.

The Hornets were off to a 3-6 start this season under Scott. Team management made the decision following New Orleans’ 124-104 loss in Phoenix on Wednesday night. Scott was in the last year of his contract with the Hornets. His record at the helm of the team was 203 wins and 216 losses.

Hornets Owner George Shinn released the following statement, “I want to thank Byron for the hard work he has put in during his time with the Hornets. I’ve hired Jeff Bower to take over the coaching reign. He knows this team better than anyone, has the respect of the players and in basketball circles, is regarded as one of the best basketball minds in the business. This is our best opportunity to reach our goals this season.”

Hornets Vice President of Basketball Chad Shinn added, “accountability was our theme this past summer. We talked about the fact that everyone on our staff is held to a certain standard of performance and we didn’t feel this was happening at the head coach level. We feel like we still have an opportunity with our nucleus to get to where we want and Jeff is the right guy, right now to move us in that direction from the bench.”

This came as a surprise as Scott was the NBA Coach of the Year in 2008, when Hornets finished the season with a 56-26 record. This continue to show that Hornets is a franchise in a state of disarray.

none